Has Pavel Durov been fired as CEO of Russia’s largest social network VKontakte?

According to Durov, FSB sought to disclose the personal information of the organizers of the Euromaidan groups back in December 2013. Source: ITAR-TASS

Pavel Durov, the founder of the “Russian Facebook,” has allegedly been fired for incorrectly revoking the resignation he tendered on April 1. Durov found out about his ouster from the newspapers. In his opinion, the company is now controlled by structures with ties to the Kremlin.

VKontakte,
Russia’s largest social network, has lost its CEO Pavel Durov, according to
several Russian publications, citing VKontakte’s Executive Director Dmitry
Sergeyev.

The
social network’s Press Officer George Lobushkin confirmed the reports.

Schroedinger’s dismissal

However, it remains unclear if Durov has been fired or not. A conflict had been brewing among Vkontakte shareholders, who exchanged mutual
invective about their power to dismiss Durov throughout
Tuesday, April 22.

Later on
Tuesday, representatives of the United Capital Partners fund (UCP), which owns
48 percent of VKontakte, said that they do not recognize Durov’s removal as
valid.

“Mr.
Sergeyev has clearly overstepped his authority in making such a decision,
without discussing it with the board of directors. (…) It’s well known that we
don’t harbor any sympathy towards Pavel Durov, but we consider it absolutely
necessary to comply with legal procedures when taking corporate actions of such
importance. The issue regarding VKontakte’s general director will be considered
at the next board of directors meeting,” UCP Partner Yuri Kachuro commented.

Sergeyev
retorted that Durov’s removal does not require UCP approval. “Pavel is legally
no longer the general director. It’s a fait accompli,” Sergeyev said.

Later, UCP labeled
Sergeyev’s statements inappropriate and unacceptable. "Mr. Sergeev has no
authority to make decisions or statements on matters of the dismissal or appointment of the Vkontakte
CEO. The social medium’s Board of Directors will consider a change of Vkontakte
management at the next meeting," spokesman for the NHS Foundation Nafisa
Nasyrova commented to Lenta.ru.

Durov had
learned about his possible removal “from the press.” On his VKontakte page, he
wrote that the social network he created was being brought “under the total
control of [president of state-run oil company Rosneft] Igor Sechin and
[billionaire and primary shareholder in Internet holding Mail.ru Group] Alisher
Usmanov.”

Pavel
Durov is currently in the U.S. and has "no plans to return to
Russia," according to a statement he made himself to the TechCrunch news
website.

Problems with
shareholders

Durov publicly
announced his voluntary resignation on April 1. Two days later, he said that it
had been an April Fool’s joke. However, the company took the announcement
seriously. According to VKontakte’s shareholders, Durov revoked his resignation
in a legally incorrect way, and he now has to be fired.

According
to Sergeyev, managers have one month to revoke resignations, while all other
employees have two weeks. Durov did not revoke his resignation, and his
authority therefore expired on April 21, Sergeyev said.

Related:

Vedomosti
cited a source close to VKontakte as saying that Durov sent an e-mail to the
social network’s shareholders saying he would stay at the company. However,
according to VKontakte, an e-mail is not enough to officially revoke a
resignation. The Russian Labor Code, meanwhile, contains no indication of how
to properly revoke a resignation.

Sergeyev
hopes that Durov and VKontakte’s shareholders will reach an agreement for Durov
to continue his participation in the company. “Pavel is the creator of the
network, a visionary, and a phenomenally gifted person. His participation was
extremely useful,” Vedomosti cited Sergeyev as saying. VKontakte has created a
special job position just for Durov – chief architect of the network, Sergeyev
said.

Rumors
began circling about Durov’s imminent resignation the moment UCP entered the
fold as a co-owner. UCP’s shareholders, among others, accused Durov of using
VKontakte’s resources to work on another project – the instant messenger
Telegram, which in UCP’s opinion represents a competitor to the social network.

Last
week, Durov announced that, under pressure from the security services, he had
to sell 12 percent of VKontakte’s shares to the CEO of telecommunications
company MegaFon, Ivan Tavrin.

According
to Durov, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) sought to disclose the
personal information of the organizers of the Euromaidan groups back in
December 2013. Scans of letters with official FSB requests were attached to
Durov’s statement.

For
refusing to satisfy the FSB’s request, Durov “had to sacrifice a lot, including
[his] share in VKontakte,” he wrote, adding that “it’s all worth it to protect
personal information.” In March, Tavrin sold his stake in VKontakte to the
Mail.ru Group, which as a result now holds almost 52 percent of the social
network’s shares.

“In the
Russian context, something like this was probably unavoidable, but I’m glad we
held out for seven and a half years. We achieved a lot. And part of what has
been done is irreversible,” Durov wrote on his VKontakte page yesterday,
commenting on his departure.